Bizosphere

Archive for June, 2008

Unless something trips it up, I will post a “back from hiatus and now what” (and yes, fundraiser) edition of Carnival of the Capitalists this week. I’m looking at Gmail for the first time in forever, and of course there’s not a huge amount there. If you send in an entry ASAP, it will be considered, or might make it for the next one, which should be sooner than this one, if not exactly next week.

Since this is an extra huge, catching up edition, the rules on posts being recent, and there being only one per blog, are completely out the window.

The address is bizosphere@gmail.com, or you can simly e-mail me at jay@bizosphere.com if you’d like, for this one.

Feel free to suggest posts by others, not written by you, and mainstream online media articles as well.

Thanks!

LinkedIn is in the news, with a round of financing, walue of a cool billion, and big plans that seem to be on the right track.

Around these parts, this articlle sounds funny. Some of us have been driving less for a long time. To the point where atrophied vehicles are a concern, where they can just sit and decay by not being driven as intended.

Well, that’s not what the article title says: May Retail Sales Up More Than Expected.

Rebate checks? More money on hand? Do the people who write these things actually do any shopping?

I could easily buy retail prices being up by the 0.8% stated, after factoring out certain big ticket items and gas. There’s just no factoring out the cost of fuel from the cost of groceries and other goods.

Painting this as rosy sales news is almost like thinking that the same percentage profit on $138 that you made on $50 is a “windfall.”

There is a certain amount of irony in my having organized and run something called Carnival of the Capitalists for so long as an uncompensated volunteer. Even when it only took a couple hours a week, well… it took a couple hours a week.

It’s been on hiatus, and that is one of the reasons. I want to bring it back in some form. Recently I had a fundraising drive of sorts at Blogblivion, which had a gratifying response, albeit driven by the assistance of big name bloggers. A couple of people mentioned their donations were for CotC or expressed interest in seeing it return, so doing so is partly for and inspired by them.

I’ve been accumulating links, which might otherwise get posted standalone, rather than as part of a collection, and while I haven’t looked, presumably some have come into the submission address. I’m ready to try it again, but I’m not sure it can or should ever be exactly the same.

There will be one edition to start, designated a fundraiser. I will also be looking at the option of advertising here, but if there’s enough direct support, the need for that will be mitigated. You needn’t wait for that, if you have ever appreciated Carnival of the Capitalists during its run from late 2003 to early 2008. Even tiny amounts help. The “make a donation” button at the top of the right column is the place to go for that, and thank you for your support. If you contributed previously, thank you again. No need to repeat yourself.

As noted, I’ll entertain the possibility of advertising, or some form of sponsorship. If you’re interested, let me know: jay@bizosphere.com.

There is much to say about blog carnivals, CotC, blogging, social media, and so forth, but that can wait for the CotC edition or other posts.

The main thing is that CotC has to go TANSTAAFL in the future, if there is to be one. Even if there isn’t going to be a CotC, this site has to go that way. I won’t make a living running CotC or blogging here on business and economics, but I have to make something.

As part of revitalizing this place, I’m finally working on the blogroll. There will be a Hostroll, specifically the blogs where CotC editions have been hosted, or of the people who did the hosting, if they’ve migrated. There will be a Linkroll, which is like a blogroll, but might not include only blogs.

I will add to them a little at a time, and will try to announce the additions in posts like this, but without all the explanatory text.

BusinessPundit was started by Rob May in earl 2003. Carnival of the Capitalists was a concept he proposed in rough form, and from there we fleshed out the details, launched it in October 2003, and I ran with it. As the founding founder, Rob hosted the first edition. So duh, BusinessPundit goes on the Hostroll, notwithstanding its recent change of ownership.

Rob continues to blog at or be associated with sites like Coconut Headsets, Daily Idea, and Capitalist Banter.

I’ll add one or two a day to the Hostroll as I get a chance, and add or point out Linkroll entries at a slower rate.